Ard Berge received his M.F.A. in Painting from the New York Academy of Art in 1997.  He was awarded a B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1995.  His education also includes study with Jacob Collins at Water Street Atelier, working with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky at the Art Institute of Florence in Italy, and private lessons with Patrick Devonas.  Since 1999, he has taught studio art and art history at Felician University where he currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Art Department.  Berge has additionally taught at the New York Academy of Art and Bergen Community College.  In 2001, he was invited by the U.S. Department of State to conduct workshops in Angola with Antonio Olé.  Ard Berge has also been awarded artist’s residencies at the Santa Fe Art Institute in 2002 and Acadia National Park in 2012.  Berge has exhibited widely—with solo shows at Art First Contemporary Art gallery in London, Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, and at the Queensborough Community College Art Gallery in Bayside, New York.  He lives and works in Manhattan.